[goropeza]

I currently own a pair of AH-D 5000's and I must say that I am extremely happy with them. They are my first set of audiophile quality cans and I did a lot of research to predetermine if they would have the sound signature I liked. I immediately fell in love with the deep, booming bass along with the sparkling treble. Mids are of coarse a bit recessed but the detail was great as well. I now find myself in a position where I can upgrade to the AH-D 7000's and I'm wondering if it is really worth it. From what I understand (I can only speculate), the bass from the 7000's isnt as 'boomy' as the bass from the 5000's but that it allows the rest of the frequencies to shine a little more. This kind of sounds like a good change for me because the the 5000's were maybe too bass heavy (as much as i love it, it doesn't go well with all music genres).
 
I'm guessing, still being a Denon, the 7000's will still be a bass heavy headphone, but maybe tighter and punchier? I'm just wondering what the exact differences are between the two headphones, preferrably answered by people who have owned both. So if anybody out there could help me clarify the exact differences between the two headphones to help me make a better buyer decision, I would be very grateful. Thanks in advance.

 

[MattTCG]

I own the d2k and the d5k and have listened to the d7k. Now, d7k owners, do not throw cabbages at me...but there are only slight differences across the entire denon dxk line. 
 
The d2k is a great sounding and fun hp. The bass may be a little loose for some. But it's comfy, easy to drive and has that deep luscious bass. The bass gets slightly more refined as you move up the line...slightly. It is not day and night by any stretch of the imagination.
 
With the d5k you get the wooden cups and a cable upgrade.  That's it. The mids are smoother and slightly more forward but again these are small incremental changes. The bass is a touch tighter while retaining the impact and having slightly more texture to it.
 
The d7k improves on the same things that the d5k does. You get some nicer cups and a thicker cable on d7k. 
 
Okay...get the cabbages ready. To my ears, there is a 10& improvement from d2k>d5k. And 10% from d5k>d7k. So 20% from bottom to top. 
 
Part of what you pay for is the nice wooden cups. Also  consider that if you are willing to eq, then some of the differences can be made even smaller. 
 
For me the d5k is the sweet spot. Each to his own though. I'd take that money and put it towards a nice amp/dac and some new music.

 

[sonitus mirus]

They are all similar, especially the newest iterations.  The D5000 and D2000 share identical drivers, but the cable is not similar as the D5000 is the same as the D7000, the cups are obviously different, and there are a few minor build differences that can be found.
 
Here is a great review that was recently done on the D2K, D5K, and D7K.
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/luscious-denon-ah-d2000-ah-d50000-and-ah-d7000
 
It seems that the bigger upgrade is from the D2000 to the D5000 rather than going from the D5000 to the D7000.
 
I have a pair of D5000s with J$ pads, and I have borrowed my coworkers D7000 on a couple different occasions in an effort to determine if I should upgrade.  There were some things about the D7000 that I like slightly better with a few songs, but overall I preferred my D5000 to the D7000.  My D5000 is newer, and the D7000 I used was an older pair.

 

[eucariote]

I owned both for nearly a year and did slightly prefer the D7000.  The biggest flaw of D5000 is the recessed mids, which is somewhat remedied (40%?) by the D7000, but the latter still placed voices and guitar too far behind the other instruments for my liking.  D7000 does have tighter, more refined bass which is nice if you want strong bass, but like D5000 it is emphasized and not in balance with the other frequencies.  In addition to the weak mids, the biggest flaws of the D7000 is a their treble, which I found too strident for my taste.  D5000 did a much better job with treble imo.  Both are very nice (much better than most headphones I've tried) but for the price the D7000 have too many flaws that ultimately detracted from the enjoyment of music.  I found myself listening to them with the volume turned way down to avoid ear pain from the intense bass and treble.  Other similarly priced headphones, for example HE-500 do a MUCH better job with mids and do not have glaring flaws that distract me from the pleasure music while giving due emphasis to every frequency and every instrument.

 

[Lorspeaker]

The d7000 has a better driver according to the specs...
to unpick the microdetails in the music.

 
I love the d7000, its a very spacious sounding closedcan.
never tot it to be sibilant, i rather think it will reproduce wats up the soundchain.
 
caveat:
i hav not heard the d5000...
i happily settled down to the d7k thru the hd800/T1/edition8 path.
d7k is the best bang my money made.

 

[Magick Man]

A while back there were larger differences between the 5000 and 7000s, but that changed with the last stealth revision of late 2011/early 2012. Now they're much, much closer. In fact, I'd say close to the point of not being worth the added expense, unless you're specifically a "flagship hunter".

 

[KG Jag]

I have all three, starting with the D2000; then buying the D7000 and finally picking up the D5000--all during this year.  I agree that the biggest leap in quality is from the D2000 to the D5000.  Between the D5000 and D7000, the D7000 just does about everything just a little bit better.  It's like going from a very good whiskey to an excellent one.  Is it objectively worth the extra money to move up from the 5000 to 7000?  Probably not, even understanding that both will shortly be discontinued.  However, I would understand someone who really likes the sound signature to fork out the extra cash to drink the excellent whiskey--for as long as he/she chose to do so.

 

[MattTCG]

I agree with your assessment. But, I wouldn't consider the fact that this line being discontinued a con.. New isn't always better and sometimes it's worse. And it's almost always more expensive 

.

 

[LCfiner]

I owned both the D5000 and D7000 but not at the same time. The D5000 were impressive at first with the big bass but, ultimately, I thought the midrange was too recessed for my taste and the bass was out of control for most types of music.
 
The D7000 tame the bass from the D5000 (it's still head pounding) but it brings the mids more in line with the rest of the frequencies so it's not so V-shaped in response as the D5000. I'd say it's more of a shallow U shape FR.
 
Compared to other high end dynamic headphones I have owned and really liked (RS1, HD800, GS1000 and PS1000), the D5000 would be my least favorite because of the exaggerated bass and recessed mids but the D7000 would rank somewhere higher up, Not as good as the HD800 but around the same enjoyment as the GS1000 or RS1 in terms of offering a non neutral sound but not being so brazen about it that only certain types of music are OK with it (which I thought was the D5000s biggest weakness)

 

[HiFiGuy528]

I like the D7000 A LOT more.  
 

 

[Deep1923]

a denon d5000 with Lawton Level 2 Modifications should kick ass a D7000
 
If you want only one of them unmodded. go with the d7000 !

 

[Magick Man]

According to measurements, the D5000 with Lawton angle pads and some simple damping should be ideal.

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/DenonAHD5000JMoneyPads.pdf

 

[goropeza]

Thanks a ton guys! I placed an order for the 7000's as your input has got me curious. After some burn in I'll give it a listen and if it's not to my liking I can always return them. I am very interested to see how much of a difference the markl mods make to the sound as well.
 

 

[Magick Man]

After a good listen in stock form, I would try just some cup damping first before doing the whole thing.

 

[MattTCG]

Quote:

Thanks a ton guys! I placed an order for the 7000's as your input has got me curious. After some burn in I'll give it a listen and if it's not to my liking I can always return them. I am very interested to see how much of a difference the markl mods make to the sound as well.
 

 
Did you buy from EE and what was your final price?
 
thanks...